The University of Cambridge’s Computer Science degree is one of the most popular and selective in the country. Its website currently specifies a minimum offer level of A*A*A, and in 2023 there were 13 applicants per place.
Salaries skyrocket almost immediately after graduation. Within a year, median earnings came to £56,000 – already double the £27,800 figure for all UK employees that year, ONS data show.
These graduates are reaping the rewards of a sector growing at pace. The number of “Information Technology Professionals” jumped over 9.1pc between 2022 and 2023 alone, and is on track to be a million strong within the next few years. Over nine in ten of the programme’s output were in sustained employment or further study at the time of the survey.
Graduates with Allied Health degrees from the University of Sunderland are also highly likely to find work – the comparable figure being 85.7pc. And, although tuition fees match, average rent in the city is almost three times lower than in Cambridge – at just £623 monthly in July 2024 to £1,665.
According to Discover Uni, 80pc of Sunderland’s alumni said their work fitted their plans for the future, 90pc said they found their work useful and every single respondent claimed they found it meaningful.
But they are also earning substantially less, especially in the first few years of work. They made a third of what their Cambridge peers earned after one year, and less than a sixth after five years. Money isn’t everything, but this has drastic lifelong consequences for student loans.